Maintain peace during Pujas: CM

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday gave a message to the people of the state urging to maintain peace and harmony during Durga Puja and Muharram. She also directed police organisers to follow all norms to ensure safety of pandal hoppers and extended all sort of support for conducting their Puja.

Banerjee was speaking at an administrative and co-ordination meeting for conducting Durga Puja, Id-Ul-Zoha and Muharram smoothly.

Superintendents of police from all the districts attended the meeting held at Netaji Indoor Stadium through video-conference. She said: “There are some people who try to create trouble. Thus, I would like to urge people from all communities, clubs and youngsters to ensure peace and harmony during Durga Puja and Muharram. There are the brothers and sisters of Bengal to stop if they find anyone trying to play a spoilsport.”

“There are certain guidelines that are to be followed this time as well as Durga Puja and Muharram is at the same time. Like previous year, this year too immersion of Goddesses Durga and her entourage will take place on the mentioned dates.

Immersion can be done till 4 pm on the day of Dasami that is October 11. There will be no immersion on October 12.

The entire day of October 13 will be allowed for immersion and on October 14 idols of award winning Durga Puja will be passing in a procession while heading for immersion through Red Road with people watching from makeshift galleries to be set up on both sides of the road,” she said adding that the police will be coordinating with the Puja organisers whose idols will be passing through Red Road. SPs can take similar programmes in districts as well.

She has also announced that neither Kolkata Municipal Corporation nor any other corporations and municipalities will be collecting tax from organisers for putting up advertisements.

In the same breath she announced that this year she requested CESC authorities to provide 18 per cent concession on power tariff to be charged from Puja committees. Last year it was 15 per cent.

She directed the Kolkata Police to provide financial support of Rs 10,000 each to 25 women led Durga Puja committees and 25 Durga Puja committees with weaker financial strength in the city.

The same has to be followed by the other police Commissionerates and district police. KMC has been directed to help 200 Puja committees including 100 women led Durga Puja committees. Banerjee on Tuesday asked big Puja organisers to extend support to at least 5 puja committees in the vicinity with weak financial strength. She took names of ministers and senior leaders including Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Javed Khan and Sujit Bose who organise big Pujas to know that to how many Pujas they will be extending their support to.

Recollecting the last year’s trouble at Deshapriya Park, she asked the Puja organisers to ensure that there should be wider entry and exit point to the mandaps so that incidents like stampede do not take place. She also directed the KMC to ensure that all gates in its parks where there are puja mandaps remain open.

Chief Minister on Tuesday launched the online based single window system to secure permission for organising Durga Puja. The online based system has been named Aashan and puja orgnaisers just need to log into the website of the Kolkata Police to apply for permission.

Chief Minister directed the district police to introduce the same in their jurisdiction.